the Annual Friends Alliance Meeting

SAMO Fund’s Executive Director, Deanna Armbruster, was invited to speak at a panel for the Annual Friends Alliance Meeting hosted with the National Park Foundation which was held this year at the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area with their friends at their Conservancy in Cleveland. Approximately 500 people were in attendance from NPS venues (NPS staff and "friends" staff) throughout the country, along with National Park Foundation personnel. In addition to the excellent networking opportunities, there were large plenaries, break-out sessions, learning circles, and planning groups. From the very largest Parks to the very smallest "Friends" there was learning and partnering underway.

The Friends Alliance Meeting was originally organized by the National Park Foundation. In its time, it has grown so significantly that another entity (501c3) called the Friends Alliance has been established with a high ranking and influential NPS person established as the E.D. The program is organized by Collaborative Partnerships, Community Engagement, Sustainability & Science and Philanthropy. Each year the alliance has an integrated theme where many sessions focus on something specific. This year it was creating partnerships. We should be very proud as a lot of the focus from other organizations are on what we are doing, such as connecting young adults to the outdoors, empowering urban areas, partnering with other organizations on projects and getting young kids outdoors.

Deanna, who’s time is greatly invested in maintaining the roles & responsibilities SAMO Fund has to NPS, states that, “One of the greatest take-aways for me from the conference is the networking experience. When staff from Friends/Parks around the country talk, we really dig into specifics of ‘how do you do that’ which creates ideas and collaborations.”